Technology

When the robots come to take our jobs, what are we all going to do to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table? That’s the question that the universal basic income (UBI) hopes to answer. The government gives everyone JUST enough money to afford the basics so that no one falls into total, abject poverty. Supporters think a universal income is essential to fight financial inequality and help the millions of people who could lose their jobs to artificial intelligence. But opponents think it would be WAY too expensive and could hurt the economy by stripping away the incentive to work. Where do you stand? Is the universal basic income a good idea or bad idea? Have your students join the discussion with other students across the country on KQED Learn. (Log in required.)

Explore the traditional gristmill methods of grinding corn into flour and examine the reasons for the demise of this industry. One of West Virginia’s last remaining gristmills, Reed’s Mill in Monroe County, was placed on the list of endangered properties by the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia last year. The man who owns this mill, Larry Mustain, is wondering how long he can continue to keep his family’s business going.

Learn how social media giant Facebook's platform played a seemingly pivotal role in the “Arab Spring,” a wave of protests and demonstrations in the Middle East and North Africa during 2010–2012 that led to regime changes, in this video excerpted from The Facebook Dilemma: FRONTLINE. In 2011, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was prompted to resign due to a month of growing protests against his regime. Online activists led by Wael Ghonim had sparked a “revolution” using Facebook as an organizing tool. However, in the wake of regime change, the same tool that had so effectively unified the people in Egypt would soon be perceived to polarize society.

Consider whether Facebook bears responsibility for the rise of fake news and polarization seen during the 2016 U.S. presidential election in these videos excerpted from The Facebook Dilemma: FRONTLINE. Facebook had become a massive distributor of news in the years leading up to 2016. However, the company’s leadership didn’t regard itself as responsible for the accuracy of content posted to the site and did not take measures to edit any of it. As a consequence, false stories, many of them eventually traced to a small town in Macedonia, spread on its platform in the run-up to the 2016 election. With its algorithm determining which content would be most prominently displayed to which users, some argue Facebook played a significant role in the polarization of politics in America.

Innovation Insights features short video interviews with innovators and creators answering questions about things like influences, passions, and mistakes, and offering advice for the next generation of innovators.

The internet is a powerful tool for communication, but it can sometimes be a double-edged sword. As most of us have seen or experienced, the internet can bring out the worst behavior in people, highlighting some of the cruelest and most hurtful aspects of humanity. Issues such as bullying online and trolling have garnered a lot of attention recently, prompting questions about who does, and should, regulate the internet, and what free speech means online.

This one hour video workshop explores the role of government in a market economy. The classroom activities demonstrated in three high school classrooms emphasize that government protects property rights, corrects market failures, provides for pure public goods, and provides other goods and services. They also show how some government policies can have unintended consequences.

This one hour video workshop employs simulations and exercises to illustrate key concepts of the market—the foundation of a free market system—with special emphasis on the interplay of supply and demand. Students will learn that the laws of supply and demand are critical to understanding not only economics, but other aspects of human behavior as well.

This one hour video workshop visits three high school classrooms and introduces the basics of economics. Economics can be broadly defined as how people react when pursuing their own interests in a situation of scarcity. This workshop shows how teachers introduce their students to the basic building blocks of economic thinking. In a good economics course, students learn the economic way of thinking, rather than a definite set of conclusions. This first workshop in the series presents some of the key ideas that constitute an economic way of thinking. Educators Elaine Schwartz, Steve Reich, and Jay Grenawalt deomonstrate teaching strategies to engage students to understand the basics of economics.